Explanation: Sometimes the sky lights up unexpectedly. A trip to northern Norway to photograph auroras was not going as well as hoped. It was now past midnight in Steinsvik, Troms, in northern Norway, and the date was 2014 February 8. Despite recent activity on the Sun, the skies were disappointing. Therefore, the astrophotographer began packing up to go. His brother began searching for a missing lens cap. When the sky suddenly exploded with spectacular aurora. Reacting quickly, a sequence detailing dramatic green curtains was captured, with the bright Moon near the image center, and the lens-cap seeking brother on the far right. The auroral flare lasted only a few minutes, but the memory of this event, the photographer speculates, will last much longer.

October 9th

Leif Ericson Day

Born in Iceland sometime before 1000 A.D., Leif Ericson was the son of a Norseman, Eric the Red, who discovered and colonized Greenland. Leif left Greenland for Norway, where he was converted to Christianity. King Olaf commissioned him to convert the Vikings to Christianity, but on his way from Norway to Greenland he was blown off course and reached the coast of North America instead. It is believed that Leif Ericson landed in North America in 1004 (488 years before Christopher Columbus). There is some speculation as to who exactly discovered North America. As a mark of respect for Leif Ericson and the Norse explorers, the Congress of the United States authorized the President to proclaim October 9th of each year as Leif Ericson Day

Your Animal Spirit for Today
August 28, 2012

Moose

Moose represents incredible strength and longevity, as well as the ability to see the future. Moose antlers are among the largest of the antlered animals, and are like psychic antennae—giving Moose amazingly developed hearing, smell, and depth perception. Moose is bellowing at you to open your third eye and stop pretending that you don’t know what’s about to happen.

The square is a very powerful symbol of protection. Even if your work within a circle you can still designate as outer square as an additional protective enclosure. If you can’t have a permanent altar outdoors, your magick square can designate the smaller space where you regularly set up your magickal tools.

It is also very protective of the home, even more so than a circle, and is an easier shape to cast in many gardens than the circle. I draw one around my caravan with small stone makers if the site is very quiet or if I have to leave the caravan unoccupied for a while.

It is effective also for keeping children or animals temporarily off lawns or flower beds you are trying to grow.

You can visualize a protective square of any size, from a small one around a precious artifact to one around a sacred site where you have organized a seasonal ritual.

They are very protective around natural circles such as groves where you would not draw a circle.

Indeed, you can create a temporary square if you are working in a public spot and don’t want your magick area invaded by dogs and curious coach parties. In modern times where working in isolated places may be less safe, you can visualize one around the beach or forest while you are working or around yourself (as well as your protective circle) on a deserted station platform or taxi tank.

Stand in the center of your designated square, which may also be the center of your projected magick circle.

Hold out your arm as far as you can with your palm upright and outwards and say:

“Enough and no more, I draw my square of protection. Preserve this space as sacred.”

Picture a line of light forming the top horizontal (west to east). Keep turning, making next the vertical north-south line along the right east side as you face north. Speak and visualize till you have all four lines in place and can see a shimmering outline to your square of light.

You can also walk your square from the furthest away top left-hand corner, moving clockwise and ending at the nearest, bottom left corner. Use your wand in front of you and put a small dark stone at each corner and one halfway along each line. You can align with a compass or estimate north in the middle of the top line furthest from you as you face north.

You can assign your midpoints, the main directions, to archangels or to the lofty Landvaetir, the tall brown guardians who in Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and eastern part of the UK are cognized as protecting land and all who live on it. You can further protect the corners with the traditional taller dark stones if you are setting up a permanent magickal square.

Spiritual Uses: Clears the chakras and allows the life-force to flow freely throughout the body. Facilitates self-empowerment.Emotional Uses: Used to rid depression and alleviate stress, anxiety and phobias.Physical Uses: Harmonises the organs, good for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Can be gridded around the body to relieve general aches and pains.Folklore:In ancient Greece, Sunstone was used to represent the Sun God, Helios (or Apollo). Ancient Greeks believed Sunstone invigorated and greatly improved the state of the physical body and the spirit, bringing renewed strength and good health to both.Magickal Properties:Protection, Energy, Health, Sexual Energy, Love, Power, Happiness, Courage

Trolls, or trows as they are sometimes called, are often thought to live under bridges. They are said to be ugly little creatures, but there are some old myths that claim that trows could pass for human. Some of the myths infer that trows are nocturnal and can only move about at night, while others say they are invisible and therefore simply unseen. Folklore from the Shetland Islands in Scotland lays claim to one distinguishing character trait carried by trolls; they walk backwards. Trolls has a distinct hatred for locked doors and are known to sneak into people’s homes at night if the occupants have locked the door before retiring.

While the tales of the trolls feature in folklore contain both gruesome and nonsensical elements there is little doubt that the troll relates to and falls under the rule of earth. Trolls were known to have magical powers. It was said that they could fly and enchant the wind and were masters of mixing healing potions, ointments and elixirs.

About Miellikki: The Finnish Goddess of game, hunting, and the forest,
Mielikki protects our resources during the remaining cold season by
keeping the pantry filled. As the Goddess of abundant grain, she also
encourages the return of fertility to the earth.

To Do Today: Go into your kitchen and get a small handful of any
grain-based cereal. Take this outside and release a pinch of it to the
earth, saying,

Mielikki, see this grain and bless, return to earth in fruitfulness.
Hear the prayer that fills my heart; to my home, providence impart.
Take the remaining pinch back in the house and store it in an airtight
container, symbolically preserving your resources.

Tyvendedagen means “twentieth day after Christmas.” In Norway, today
marks the official end of the Yule season. It’s celebrated with races,
sleigh rides and the storage of ornaments and by burning the Christmas
tree to drive away winter. So, when you dismantle your Yule tree, keep a
jar full of its needles handy. Burn these throughout the year to banish
frosty feelings or to warm up a chilly relationship. The pine smoke,
being from a woodland tree, also draws Mielikki’s attention to any
pressing needs you may have.

Explanation: Higher than the highest building, higher than the highest mountain, higher than the highest airplane, lies the realm of the aurora. Auroras rarely reach below 60 kilometers, and can range up to 1000 kilometers. Aurora light results from energetic electrons and protons striking molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. Frequently, when viewed from space, a complete aurora will appear as a circle around one of the Earth’s magnetic poles. The above wide angle image, horizontally compressed, captured an unexpected auroral display that stretched across the sky one month ago over eastern Norway.

Beiwe Festival

(Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia)

The Saami, indigenous people of Finland, Sweden and Norway, worship Beiwe, the sun-goddess of fertility and sanity. She travels through the sky in a structure made of reindeer bones with her daughter, Beiwe-Neia, to herald back the greenery on which the reindeer feed. On the winter solstice, her worshipers sacrifice white female animals, and thread the meat onto sticks which they bend into rings and tie with bright ribbons. They also cover their doorposts with butter so Beiwe can eat it and begin her journey once again.